I received a prayer request yesterday in my email from a friend to pray for her friend and aunt. I prayed for them this morning and at lunchtime today, got a SMS that the doctor had called and the friend is in her last hour. We all prayed and what we ask for may not be what is the best that God has planned for us. Appropriately the reading and Gospel for today is about prayer. Prayer of Esther in distress, surrendering to God and The Gospel about how we should pray with expectation that God will answer our prayer and His response will be with so much more love compared with our earthly father & friends. I have included the scripture for today and also the reflection from Shalom (Jesuit publication). Do not be dishearten, know that we are loved. He wants to take away our suffering and pain.
Scripture for Thur 25 th Feb 2010, 1st Week of Lent
Reading I
Est C:12, 14-16
Queen Esther, seized with mortal anguish,
had recourse to the LORD.
She lay prostrate upon the ground, together with her handmaids,
from morning until evening, and said:
“God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob, blessed are you.
Help me, who am alone and have no help but you,
for I am taking my life in my hand.
As a child I used to hear from the books of my forefathers
that you, O LORD, always free those who are pleasing to you.
Now help me, who am alone and have no one but you,
O LORD, my God.
Gospel
Mt 7:7-12
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Ask and it will be given to you;
seek and you will find;
knock and the door will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds;
and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
Which one of you would hand his son a stone
when he asked for a loaf of bread,
or a snake when he asked for a fish?
If you then, who are wicked,
know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will your heavenly Father give good things
to those who ask him.
“Do to others whatever you would have them do to you.
This is the law and the prophets.”
Shalom reflection
In today’s first reading Queen Esther prays fervently for herself and her nation for deliverance from the mortal danger of being exterminated by Haman. When we meditate upon the two readings we discover three important conditions of the prayer of petition.
The first of these conditions is faith. It is faith that tells us that there is God — the Lord of all and the Father of mercies, our Creator and Redeemer who never is tired or bored with our prayers. Only people who believe ask God, seek His presence and knock at the door of His graciousness.
The second condition is trust in God. God who is our loving Father not only can help us but He will certainly give us the graces that we need. God’s help is not a theory but practice — work and action. God is always faithful to His promises. His love is eternal.
The third condition of prayer of petition is perseverance. We must ask, seek and knock unceasingly and let God decide when and how we shall receive His divine help. Perseverance helps us also to prepare our hearts for the reception of God’s gifts with gratefulness.
There is also one more thing we should remember when asking God for His grace. As God is merciful and always ready to help us so we ought to be loving and generous towards our neighbours. “So always treat others as you would like them to treat you.”
Lord, strengthen my faith and trust in You that I may ask, seek and knock with perseverance. Open my heart, eyes and hands to the needs of others.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Monday, February 22, 2010
Thank You - one year on
Today marks the first anniversary since I started chemotheraphy. I must thank God for His abundaunt graces and blessng for myself and my family. I recall 20 Feb 2009, the Charismtic prayer session and the pilgrims home visit after the first oncologist appoint when the biopsy result was confirmed. It was a whirwind 3 days and I was very blessed with the affirmation that God is with us always. And I can truly say that He has taught me; trust in God, focus on relationships & not the priority of this consumer world, God provides for our needs, He does not will harm or cancer to anyone of us. God our Father truly loves us unconditionally. He has also opened my eyes to the love that Jo has been giving me.
Jo and myself has always said that we thank God and everyone that has been praying for us. Without your prayers, nothing would have been possible, I would not have been able to go through 1 year of chemotheraphy WITHOUT the side effects that everyone dread or expects with chemo. Praise the Lord!
We are not islands and these few years has affirmed the importance of the faith community. God wants us to grow and live together' to build our bonds, support each other, teach each other and pray for each other. Thank Fr. Terence, Fr. Andrew, Fr
Frans, Fr Johnson and Fr. Edward, also Fr William Goh for the spiritual, physical and directional inputs. You have been life-giving and a shepherd.
For the faith community of pilgrims, family life @ Holy Spirit & Christ the King, CTK Charismatic; my family thank and ask for your continued prayers and fellowship.
My sister Rose, you are my blessing. To Mr & Mrs Goh, you have been self giving and I look to you as my parents and I love you, Thank you.
Last friday, Jo planned a surprise birthday celebration, I was dumbfounded. I can only say Thank You and I truly Love Jo, Gerard, Brian and Nicole very much. I thank everyone that helped plan the surprise and coming, to me it was not so much to celebrate my 48th birthday but to have my faith community with me to celebrate LIFE and Thank God.
I will continue to prayer for each of you and ask for your prayers my Angels & Saints!! Please let me know if I can be of help/service to you.
Jo and myself has always said that we thank God and everyone that has been praying for us. Without your prayers, nothing would have been possible, I would not have been able to go through 1 year of chemotheraphy WITHOUT the side effects that everyone dread or expects with chemo. Praise the Lord!
We are not islands and these few years has affirmed the importance of the faith community. God wants us to grow and live together' to build our bonds, support each other, teach each other and pray for each other. Thank Fr. Terence, Fr. Andrew, Fr
Frans, Fr Johnson and Fr. Edward, also Fr William Goh for the spiritual, physical and directional inputs. You have been life-giving and a shepherd.
For the faith community of pilgrims, family life @ Holy Spirit & Christ the King, CTK Charismatic; my family thank and ask for your continued prayers and fellowship.
My sister Rose, you are my blessing. To Mr & Mrs Goh, you have been self giving and I look to you as my parents and I love you, Thank you.
Last friday, Jo planned a surprise birthday celebration, I was dumbfounded. I can only say Thank You and I truly Love Jo, Gerard, Brian and Nicole very much. I thank everyone that helped plan the surprise and coming, to me it was not so much to celebrate my 48th birthday but to have my faith community with me to celebrate LIFE and Thank God.
I will continue to prayer for each of you and ask for your prayers my Angels & Saints!! Please let me know if I can be of help/service to you.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Ash Wednesday - 17 Feb 2010
Ash Wednesday - How healing will your Lent be this year? (from Good News Ministry)
To experience the joy and power of resurrection, we have to experience the power of mourning and repentance. We have to experience the powerlessness of death: the death of our selfishness, the death of our worldliness, the death of behaviors that are not Christ-like.
In today's first reading, God beckons: "Return to me with your whole heart, with fasting, and weeping, and mourning." Fasting is worthwhile only if it improves our self-discipline so that we can resist sin and grow in holiness. We're hypocrites, like Jesus describes in today's Gospel reading, if fasting produces no inner changes.
What are you going to do for Lent that will promote greater holiness? Here's a suggestion: Identify one fault — just one for starters — and choose an activity or an abstinence for the duration of Lent that will help you overcome this behavior.
Looking forward to Easter. I have been doing well. The constant coughing has stopped since Christmas day. Praise the Lord. Taking the daily Iressa tablet at 10am, no side effects other than a few acnes, most of them has 'sprouted' on my head hidden from sight by my hair. Will visit Dr. Kong in mid March for blood test and xray, the last review was in Jan and was very hopeful. Before Chinese New Year, had an ultrasound of my kidneys done, concern by Dr. Kong due to the consistent high creatinine level, but everything is normal and well. Went to see Damien Png, reviewed the pictures and he said things are ok, whom I have not seen for a very long time. Looks like God is getting me to catch-up with old school friends, like Tai Tee, Chuan Huat, Alphonsus, Euan, Victor Lye, Damien, David Tan.
For those celebrating the Chinese New Year, Gong Xi Fatt Choy. Till my next update, have a meaningful time with your loved ones!
To experience the joy and power of resurrection, we have to experience the power of mourning and repentance. We have to experience the powerlessness of death: the death of our selfishness, the death of our worldliness, the death of behaviors that are not Christ-like.
In today's first reading, God beckons: "Return to me with your whole heart, with fasting, and weeping, and mourning." Fasting is worthwhile only if it improves our self-discipline so that we can resist sin and grow in holiness. We're hypocrites, like Jesus describes in today's Gospel reading, if fasting produces no inner changes.
What are you going to do for Lent that will promote greater holiness? Here's a suggestion: Identify one fault — just one for starters — and choose an activity or an abstinence for the duration of Lent that will help you overcome this behavior.
Looking forward to Easter. I have been doing well. The constant coughing has stopped since Christmas day. Praise the Lord. Taking the daily Iressa tablet at 10am, no side effects other than a few acnes, most of them has 'sprouted' on my head hidden from sight by my hair. Will visit Dr. Kong in mid March for blood test and xray, the last review was in Jan and was very hopeful. Before Chinese New Year, had an ultrasound of my kidneys done, concern by Dr. Kong due to the consistent high creatinine level, but everything is normal and well. Went to see Damien Png, reviewed the pictures and he said things are ok, whom I have not seen for a very long time. Looks like God is getting me to catch-up with old school friends, like Tai Tee, Chuan Huat, Alphonsus, Euan, Victor Lye, Damien, David Tan.
For those celebrating the Chinese New Year, Gong Xi Fatt Choy. Till my next update, have a meaningful time with your loved ones!
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
no shortcut to heaven
Reflection by Terry Modica ;
Do you want Jesus to give you an easy short-cut to heaven? Who wouldn't! But the path of holiness is a difficult inner journey, not an external guarantee like: If I go to Mass every Sunday, I'm going to stay out of hell. If I serve on various committees at church, I'm winning God's favor.
The kingdom of heaven is not a "future" we hope to attain. God's kingdom is already at hand, here and now. If we accept the fact that Jesus died to heal us from our separation from God – a separation caused by our sinfulness – then we live in his kingdom now. Heaven on earth is full of crosses and temptation, but it's still divine. We already belong to God. Heaven as the after-earth-life is, simply put, the future perfection of the life that we have now. No more crosses, no more temptations, no more impurities in our relationship with God (thanks to purgatory purging out all remaining imperfections). Heaven after death is a continuation of what began on earth.
The path of heaven on earth is a journey of holiness, and our path is defiled by our unholy deeds. We cannot blame the path if we stray from it. Nor can we depend on our path-making tools to carry us to heaven.
Perfect attendance at Mass is only a tool that helps us smooth the road, but if we are not becoming the Eucharist that we consume, and if the true presence of Christ is not coming out from our hearts the rest of the week, what's the point of going to Mass? Staying away from church is no more sinful than going to church and returning home unchanged.
Serving on parish committees is the rock and tar that we use to pave the road, but what happens when someone picks up one of those rocks and hits us in the head with it? If what then comes out from us is evil thoughts, malice, blasphemy, arrogance, or folly, we've been lost on a short-cut that sends us in circles; we haven't been building the path that leads straight to heaven. We've not been following Jesus. Maybe there's a holy card of Jesus tacked to a sign on the road ahead of us, but that's not Jesus. We dare not blame anyone but ourselves for our unholiness. We are not defiled by the evil-doings of others. When someone treats us unlovingly with evil thoughts, theft, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, envy, arrogance, or folly, these are only externals. How we react to them shows us what's in our hearts: holiness or defilement, Jesus or a plastic statue of him, heaven or worldliness.
Do you want Jesus to give you an easy short-cut to heaven? Who wouldn't! But the path of holiness is a difficult inner journey, not an external guarantee like: If I go to Mass every Sunday, I'm going to stay out of hell. If I serve on various committees at church, I'm winning God's favor.
The kingdom of heaven is not a "future" we hope to attain. God's kingdom is already at hand, here and now. If we accept the fact that Jesus died to heal us from our separation from God – a separation caused by our sinfulness – then we live in his kingdom now. Heaven on earth is full of crosses and temptation, but it's still divine. We already belong to God. Heaven as the after-earth-life is, simply put, the future perfection of the life that we have now. No more crosses, no more temptations, no more impurities in our relationship with God (thanks to purgatory purging out all remaining imperfections). Heaven after death is a continuation of what began on earth.
The path of heaven on earth is a journey of holiness, and our path is defiled by our unholy deeds. We cannot blame the path if we stray from it. Nor can we depend on our path-making tools to carry us to heaven.
Perfect attendance at Mass is only a tool that helps us smooth the road, but if we are not becoming the Eucharist that we consume, and if the true presence of Christ is not coming out from our hearts the rest of the week, what's the point of going to Mass? Staying away from church is no more sinful than going to church and returning home unchanged.
Serving on parish committees is the rock and tar that we use to pave the road, but what happens when someone picks up one of those rocks and hits us in the head with it? If what then comes out from us is evil thoughts, malice, blasphemy, arrogance, or folly, we've been lost on a short-cut that sends us in circles; we haven't been building the path that leads straight to heaven. We've not been following Jesus. Maybe there's a holy card of Jesus tacked to a sign on the road ahead of us, but that's not Jesus. We dare not blame anyone but ourselves for our unholiness. We are not defiled by the evil-doings of others. When someone treats us unlovingly with evil thoughts, theft, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, envy, arrogance, or folly, these are only externals. How we react to them shows us what's in our hearts: holiness or defilement, Jesus or a plastic statue of him, heaven or worldliness.
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